Android – Page 4

NFL analytic app for fans, IronRank, comes to Android

November 14, 2013 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

There has been a huge upsurge in using advanced statistical analysis in all aspects of pro sports, with baseball leading the way, but football is rapidly catching up. IronRank has developed an app that allows fans to take advantage of the current generation of analysis.

The company has developed a method of ranking players and teams based on the standard Elo rating system and then takes the numbers it gets from the analysis and assign them to each team, which in turn is used to predict the score.

The program does an analysis on the entire team but also does separate ones for both the offense and the defenses of each team as well evaluating how teams do in the red zone, passing yards, touchdowns and other related categories. For a full look at how it does its analysis look here.

If the Elo system sounds familiar that might be because it has been used for evaluating tennis players as well as chess matches and has been found to be very accurate. IronRank said that the program so far has been successful picking winners 65% of the time and as the season progresses and more statistical information become available it increases its accuracy.

The program provides predictions on each game and ranks teams based on their division as well as their offensive and defensive capabilities. It features all of the stats that a fan could wish for and also provides past game results and provides a solid overview of a team’s performance as the season progresses.

The company now has an app available for Android devices and is working on one for iPhones. It also has a web site that has been up and running for some time. You can also follow the site at Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

There has been plenty of sports betting apps that have been released over the past few years, and few have had much staying power. However what appears to be different here is that the program uses a widely recognized, and successful system and simply applied it to the NFL. It will be interesting to see how IronRank does over the next season or two.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Betting, Facebook, Google, iPhone, NFL, Sports Betting, Startup Tagged With: Android, IronRank, NFL, Smartphone

Friday Grab Bag: No Old Style in Chicago

November 8, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Android USA, a smartwatch maker, has said that its technology will connect its forthcoming smartwatch to other mobile devices that run the Android operating system.

According to the company, its device will wirelessly sync with a smartphone via Bluetooth and give users access to features such as the phone’s music library as well as email and calendar. Pricing and availability of the watch have not yet been announced.

A Phablet too far?
Time magazine has taken a look at the growing trend, and size of phablets, the large smartphone, small-tablet hybrid that is becoming increasingly popular with users, particularly communters who use mass transit and can use the device for both purposes.

The author of the piece ties in sales of the devices with portability, and uses three different sized devices to see how well they do and don’t work in different situations for an interesting read.

Nike+ gets a new app
The Nike+ Move app has been released and for all of you band wearers get ready. Of course the new Fuelband SE Fitness tracker is still pending. The new app is designed to work with iPhone 5S and takes advantage of the new M7 motion coprocessor.

The app has a number of additional features compared to older versions of tracking apps and includes sleep. It has been designed so that users cannot game it and make it appear to be more active than they really are.

Old Style out of style at Wrigley
Bad news for baseball traditionalists in Chicago’s north side, the last can of Old Style beer was served at the last game of the season that just recently concluded. Now fans at Wrigley Field seeking to drink an alternate to some of the big named beers will need to leave their seats and go in search of a cart.

Budweiser has apparently taken over all traveling beer vendor sales and so that will limit the choices of fans. Of course they can always pregame at the Cubby Bear. [editor’s note: Real Cub fans will refuse to order Budweiser, aka Cardinals beer; and Murphy’s is a better pre-game spot especially on sunny days.]

Baseball launches Free Agent Frenzy
No, this is not just the usual hot stove league where people discuss who they want their team to pick up. Instead MLB.com has a contest that could see you at opening day with free tickets. All you have to do is correctly pick where a number of free agents will end up by the start of next season, with a point for each correct guess. There is a pair of tie breaker questions as well.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Major League Baseball, Nike Tagged With: Android, Chicago Cubs, FuelBand, Nike, Phablets, Smartwatch

MLB’s At Bat app rakes in the viewers and sales

November 1, 2013 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Major League Baseball has been very aggressive in developing and delivering a variety of apps that can enhance a fan’s appreciation of the game and the flagship product in that effort is clearly At Bat, a program that enables fans to watch and/or listen to games.

The program has seen strong demand, with 10 million downloads in a single season, and very high usage with 1 billion launches. MLB said that 60% of fans open it every day. Last year it had 6.7 million downloads.

Apple recently announced that the program is one of the 10 top grossing iOS apps of all time, and that is no surprise in view of how long the two have partnered. When Apple opened its App store in 2008, At Bat was one of the original apps available.

Of course the app is not just for Apple’s platform, although they are often the first to get the latest releases and have the most features, but it also has an Android version as well as BlackBerry and Kindle Fire.

It would be interesting to see if the growing popularity of the app, which helps fans view games that might not be broadcast in their area, or hear favorite broadcasters has had any impact on other areas of the game such as television viewership. The recently concluded series between Boston and St. Louis saw TV ratings jump 17% this year.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: Android, App, Apple, At Bat, iPad, Kindle Fire, MLB

Friday Grab Bag: A look back at ABA, Sculley returning to High Tech?

November 1, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

If you fondly remember red, white and blue basketballs then this is probably great news for you — ESPN Films is going to explore the history of the American Basketball Association in its latest 30 for 30 documentaries.

One of the few leagues that, at least semi-successfully, challenged an incumbent one, the ABA ran from 1967 until it merged with the NBA in 1976. It helped bring a new degree of flash into the NBA with freewheeling players such as Julius Irving.

Android KitKat and Nexus 5 here
The next generation of the Android operating system, code named KitKat and the Nexus 5 smartphone that is the first device to run the new OS are here this week.

CNN Tech has a nice roundup, and points out that LG will be making the phone that is expected to have a 4.95-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and have the latest generation of Gorilla Glass 3 for the front cover. Expect to see a new generation of tablets and phones with the OS in the coming months.

Few tablets have paid cellular
When you look at the price for a tablet you often see two figures: one that lists the Wi-Fi only cost and one for having 3G or 4 LTE cellular as well, which is often at least $100 more. A recent study from theConsumer Electronics Association shows that few use cellular.

The survey found that only 29% of tablet owners buy cellular enabled tablets and of these only 49% buy a data plan. Of those who buy it is almost split evenly between those that buy a separate plan for the tablet and for those who bundle.

CEA to debut WristRevolution at 2014 International CES
With Samsung, Sony, Google and a host of others now chasing the ‘wearable tech’ space the International Consumer Electronics Show will have a section that is devoted to products and technologies coming out for this market segment.

In the past products that perform some of these functions such as health monitors/wrist watches would be found across the huge show floors but now they will be gathered into a single area so that both hardware and software developments can be easily tracked.

First ticket for wearing Google Glass?
Speaking of wearable technology it is being reported that a California driver was ticketed for wearing Google Glass while driving. The officer cited a law that starts with “person shall not drive a motor vehicle if a television receiver, a video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying…” They were also speeding.

John Sculley to buy BlackBerry?
Former Apple and Pepsi CEO John Sculley is now being rumored to be in the running to buy the beleaguered smart deceive manufacturer BlackBerry, according to a report carried in the IT Wire, originally from the Globe and Mail.

Sculley is probably best known for pushing out Steve Jobs, one of Apple’s founders and the man that recruited him for the job while at Apple. He has been active in high tech since leaving Apple and is said to be working to bring a group of investors together to buy BlackBerry.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, Basketball, BlackBerry, Consumer Electronics Association, ESPN, Google, NBA, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: ABA, Android, Apple, Basketball, ESPN, Google Glass, Wearable Technology

TigerLogic seeks to drive fan engagement via social media

November 1, 2013 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

TigerLogic is charging into the collegiate sport scene with its social media platform Postano (meaning, ‘to post’ in Italian) a set of tools that will enable the school’s athletic departments to use fans’ social media posts to help promote the sports and school.

The company has already landed its platform at a number of schools, and at least one pro basketball team as well. Its customers see Postano as a way to engage fans not only at the events but in-between games as well. Among the early adopters are the University of Oregon and Arizona State University.

Postano is a flexible tool that can be adjusted to meet a school’s needs, according to the company. The goal is to enable schools to be able to present their teams in exactly the way they want them presented, down to the correct colors if somebody wants to paint their face school colors, said Tom O’Keefe, TigerLogic’s senior vice president of Social and Mobile.

The idea is pretty simple on the face of it: The company can provide a package of technology that allows the school to collect, curate and rebroadcast social media including posts from Instagram, Facebook, Vive and Twitter. They can be text, photos or video or combinations of these types of content.

Under Postano, the schools can create a media command center and then after the collection of the data they can display it in a variety of ways including on stadium scoreboards, or on displays set up for the purpose. Fans can see their own social conversations being broadcast while at the events. At the same time the schools can get a feel for the mood of the fan base by reviewing what is going on in the social media world.

Postano has created set packages specifically for college sports that include access to the following options: The Postano Social Hub, Postano Command Center, Postano Mobile and Postano Events and Social wall. It also will create customized features for its customers. The mobile platform supports both Apple’s iOS and the Android operating system.

One of the challenges that its technology faces is the inability of some stadiums to support large volumes of social media. Users can flood the grid bringing it to a halt. It does no good to try and engage fans if they cannot get a connection to post data.

While most major athletic conferences have signed away broadcasting and some digital media rights, the use of social media was not covered in these deals, and TigerLogic believes that this will be a major growth market for the company as schools use the media to further engage fans, O’Keefe said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, DAS, Facebook, Instagram, iOS 7, Sports Social Media, Sports Social Media Data, Twitter Tagged With: Android, Apple, Apps, Facebook, Social Media, TigerLogic, Twitter

Friday Grab Bag: More Thursday Night Football? New land speed record set

October 18, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

In case you were dying to know which of the new iPhones from Apple is the top seller, wait no more. Computerworld, with an assist from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has done the heavy lifting for you.

The results are really not that surprising, the high end iPhone 5S is outselling the much less expensive iPhone 5C by better than two to one. It said that 64% bought the 5S, 27% bought the 5C and the remaining 9% bought the older 4S.

Lack of viewers leading to more Thursday night games?
According to the Wall Street Journal the NFL is looking at adding additional games to its slate of Thursday night broadcasts, adding to the 13 games that are already broadcast on that day of the week by making some doubleheaders.

The WSJ said that the reason is that the league is disappointed in the ratings that its broadcasts bring in, which while high for that day of the week are lower than Sunday and Monday. The NFL is denying the rumor saying that it is false.

Of course it could not end there. So Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner said that the league is indeed thinking about starting to play doubleheaders on Thursday, which the league again denied.

Jessi Combs sets land speed record
Time to reset the clock to count down when the latest land speed record will be broken, as Jessi Combs driving a converted F-104 Lockheed Starfighter, just broke the women’s land speed record, one that managed to last 48 years, according to Gizmag.

The old record was 308.51 miles per hour set by Lee Breedlove in 1965 on Utah’s Salt Lake Flats. Combs hit 392.954 mph running at Oregon’s Alvord Desert course. The vehicle had a mere 52,000 hp, without the afterburners going.

Will the latest version of Android and a new smartphone arrive this month?
There are hints that the next generation of the Android operating system, version 4.4 and a new Nexus smartphone, will be announced on Oct. 28, due to hints that have been found in a number of Google’s Twitter messages.

The rumor campaign is based around KitKat, the code name for the next version of the operating system, and yes it is based on the candy bar. According to the LA Times the tweets could contain cryptic clues that point to the rollout. Well we have two weeks to see if that is true.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Basketball, Bonneville Salt Flats, Dallas Cowboys, Google, iPhone, NBA, NFL Tagged With: Android, Apple, Dallas Cowboys, iPhones, Jessi Combs, NFL

NFL analytic app for fans, IronRank, comes to Android

Friday Grab Bag: No Old Style in Chicago

MLB’s At Bat app rakes in the viewers and sales

Friday Grab Bag: A look back at ABA, Sculley returning to High Tech?

Friday Grab Bag: More Thursday Night Football? New land speed record set

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Search the MSR Site

e-reports